Vongola Decimo Familia
by ShinMints
Summary: If it weren't for the hazy, crazy days of summer that blinded her that fateful night, she might have lived to stop the Millefiore from taking over Namimori and killing her boss.
1. Chapter 1

**Vongola Decimo Familia - Chapter 1**

Hi everyone! This is a fanfic with my own character in it. Warning: My character is in love with an original character, and is related with an original character. I know people usually don't like these sort of fanfics, but I have to share this. I hope you all don't flame me for sharing my ideas. Constructive criticism would be nice, but please don't flame me. It makes me sad. This is shorter than I normally write, but I figured I'd stop where I did. I did not think it to be much of a preface so I've left it as a chapter.

Anyway, enjoy!

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If it weren't for the hazy, crazy days of summer that blinded her that fateful night, she might have lived to stop the Millefiore from taking over Namimori and killing her boss. However, it happened, and she was dead, her boss was dead, and Namimori was in the hands of the Millefiore.

...

We'll take this story back ten years, before any of those events ever hoped to occur. The current Vongola family of that time had just won the ring battle against the Varia. Sawada Tsunayoshi, the Vongola Decimo, was reluctantly dragging himself to school. He was tired and every bit of him was sore. Though, he wasn't as sore as he had been in the Kokuyo battle against Rokudo Mukuro, the mist guardian. Perhaps that was the effect of his training. Anyway, he could barely move his legs they were so tired, however, as he looked up ahead he could make out two figures and two very distinct voices. It was his friends and fellow guardians, Gokudera Hayato, guardian of the storm, and Yamamoto Takeshi, guardian of the rain. They were arguing about something, as usual. A smile played on the young Decimo's lips. Things were as they should be.

"Oi!" Sawada's mouth was opened to shout the same thing, but the words were said from someone else. It was a voice he didn't know. It was a stranger's voice. For some reason, he felt farther away from his friends than he really was. Perhaps it was because they looked at the source of the unfamiliar voice instead of him. Or maybe he was just being selfish. They can't pay attention to him all the time. When he caught up to the two, he finally saw the person whom the voice belonged to.

It was a girl, probably about a year younger, but she looked dangerous. Her long black hair was fringed and choppy, cut in places that were unnatural. She had bandages wrapped around her bust with her white uniform shirt unbuttoned so you could clearly see. Her pale ivory skin was marked with scratches and cuts, covered in band-aids. One of her ears had four piercings while the other only had two. Instead of wearing a skirt, she had on the boys' uniform trousers that were cuffed up to her knees. She had worn-out sneakers with tiny smudges that seemed as though blood was poorly wiped off them, and to top it off, she had a studded belt with a katana hanging on her left hip. She was staring into Takeshi's eyes, and for a moment, he glared back at her. Tsuna was wondering whether her katana was steel or wood. He sort of hoped it was wood. Takeshi sighed softly, trying to be quiet enough that no one could hear it.

"It's rare to see you going to school, Kaoru." Takeshi was back to his usual, happy self, though you could just barely hear hate entwined with the girl's name. She grimaced at him, making her seem scarier than she already was. Gokudera noticed that Tsuna was with them and started walking, with the Decimo in tow. His face was concerned, but otherwise calm. In fact, he started rambling on about his new supply of dynamite he had gotten after the battle. Tsuna looked back at the two, and they looked similar if the girl didn't look like a yankii.

Kaoru placed her hands on her hips in a very feminine way, leaned her head back, and laughed. "Rare he says! That's good!" she exclaimed. She was laughing so hard that tears were forming in the corner of her black eyes. "I'm always at school Take-nii!" The sarcasm oozed in her words and Takeshi furrowed his eyebrows, going back to being serious. Kaoru continued, "Who says I have to be in class to go to school, huh?" Her voice was hushed as she said it, making it seem like a threat, though obviously it wasn't.

Takeshi sighed painfully and started walking off to catch up with his friends, however, Kaoru caught his hand. "Can't siblings walk to school together?" She asked innocently, as though she had never done a thing wrong in her life. Annoyed, Takeshi snapped his hand away from her grasp and ran to catch up with Gokudera and Sawada. As she watched him go, Kaoru sighed painfully as he did and she tried to smile.

Tsuna wasn't sure whether he should ask Takeshi about the girl or not. He seemed normal, but earlier he glared at the girl. He figured it was a topic to be avoided, and apparently, Hayato had thought the same thing because he never asked either. The trio arrived at the school gate, but were stopped by Hibari Kyoya, guardian of the cloud. Though he was a Vongola guardian, he wasn't much of a friend. He threatened the group that if they should be late for class, he would bite them to death. A small yellow ball of fuzz on his shoulder mimicked him, "Kamikurosu, kamikurosu." If you looked closely, you could see that the small fuzz was actually a bird. The three hurried off to their homeroom.

Kaoru, who didn't really feel the need to run off to school, took her time in getting there. In fact, by the time she got there, the gates were closed. She chuckled. It wasn't like she wanted to go to class, but she went whenever there was a big test. She at least wanted to pass to the next grade. Her small hands clutched the black, iron bars and she hoisted herself up. She threw herself over the gate and landed on her feet. However, as she stood up to walk in the school, Hibari blocked her path.

"You're late, Yamamoto Kaoru. I'll bite you to death." He whipped out his tonfa as he said his infamous line. Kaoru brushed the dust off of her knees and clutched the hilt of her katana.

"Bring it, Prefect Chairman." She retorted.

"Anytime, Yankii Leader."

They started after each other, wielding their weapons. Kaoru raised her katana high in the air, and Hibari was ready to counter and attack with his second tonfa. Though just as they were about to collide with each other, a bright orange light forced them to back off. It was hot enough to be a flame, though it didn't feel like an average flame. Sawada Tsunayoshi, guardian of the sky and Vongola Decimo, was in hyper mode. He did not want Hibari to fight, especially after the Varia battle. He was injured and was probably still recovering. And he didn't want Kaoru to get hurt. He learned that she was Takeshi's younger sister as they walked to homeroom.

"Oh?" Hibari put his tonfas away and started walking back to the school. "Get to class or I'll bite you to death."

Kaoru sheathed her katana and chuckled. "Let's go at it again later. Alright, Kyoya?" She said his name with sarcasm, and he looked back at her. Tsuna wasn't sure whether he was agreeing or not, but as long as they stopped before Hibari's injuries got any worse, then it was okay. Kaoru knew well that Hibari agreed. Kaoru turned her attention to Tsuna, who had gone out of hyper mode.

"That was impressive."

Tsuna blushed a little, but he was a little scared of her still. He didn't want to be since she was Takeshi's younger sister, but it was hard from the way she was dressed. "Th-Thanks." he muttered. The words were barely coming out of his mouth. Kaoru walked past him towards the school with her hands shoved in her pockets. She looked back at him when he wasn't following.

"Better hurry before you're bitten to death." she teased. A mischievous smile played on her lips, and Reborn watched her every move.

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Again, this wasn't as long as I had hoped it to be. Anyway, hope people continue to read, because the next chapter isn't far off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Vongola Decimo Familia - Chapter 2**

The school day was more than half-way over. The young mafioso sighed with relief, happy that his day was almost over. Reborn, the sun arcobaleno who tutored Tsuna, was relieved that the day was almost finished as well. Although most people couldn't tell unless he openly said his feelings, it was more than apparent that he wanted to leave quickly. Not for anything in particular, mind you.

"Tsuna," the hit man baby started. "Yamamoto's kid sister would be a good addition to your family. " Tsuna stared at him. Of course she looked strong (and scary), but there was no way he was bringing another innocent person into his mafia family. Besides, Takeshi probably didn't want his younger sister to be in any danger either, would he? She seemed nice enough. She had actually taken the blame as to why Tsuna was late to first period. Even if she was a yankii, she was a nice one. If nice yankiis even existed. To force a good person like that into the mafia, well, he just couldn't do it.

However much he wanted to say no, he couldn't. "Okay," Tsuna was not in the mood to be arguing with Reborn. At the last bell, he hurriedly packed his things to leave. Hayato, his self-proclaimed right-hand man, was already standing next to his desk, ready to go. Takeshi came only a minute after. The expression on Takeshi's face was his usual, calm one and he chuckled sheepishly.

"Coach wanted us to practice before the game, so I can't go home with you guys."

"Tch! Who wanted you to?" Hayato was already pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. It wasn't as if he disliked Takeshi. He just didn't want him to get the position as the Decimo's right-hand man. Hayato had already claimed that position. Tsuna smiled nervously, unsure of how to calm the two of them down. Reborn was there the whole time, but not really paying any attention to the trio's conversation. In fact, he seemed to be absent-minded or thinking hard about something. You couldn't really tell. Tsuna noticed him acting strange, but he didn't mention it aloud.

The young Vongola stood up to leave, lifting his bag over his shoulder. Hayato quickly followed after him and Takeshi as well since he had to leave soon anyway. Tsuna was a little concerned about the way he was behaving earlier when they had met his sister. He wasn't his happy, cheerful self that made Tsuna feel at ease. In fact, he felt the tension between the siblings stifle the air around them. It was unsettling to see his friend act that way when not in a battle. Takeshi, however, seemed to be just as cheerful as he would be any other ordinary day, so Tsuna tried to relax a bit. He watched his friend run off in the opposite direction with his baseball gear in tow.

Hayato, not as worried as Tsuna was, noticed the concerned expression spread across his boss's face. And in response, he felt the same concern. He doesn't want to admit that he was also a bit worried that Takeshi had been acting strangely, but it wasn't his place to pry either. To be more exact, he doesn't want to know why Takeshi acted the way he did, or why he glared at his younger sister. Even Hayato never glared at Bianchi. He admits that she gets on his nerves and that her face makes hims sick, but he doesn't necessarily hate her. He couldn't.

Tsuna started walking down the hallway towards the stairs, and Hayato followed. It didn't seem as if the two of them noticed, and Reborn wasn't there anymore, so he didn't warn them they were going the wrong way. They found themselves inches from the Prefects Office. In other words, they were where Hibari was most of the time. They usually tried to avoid Hibari, but they really couldn't help but get closer this one time because another voice came from inside the room. The two were curious to see who it was.

"Nah, Kyoya? What do you think?" Tsuna and Hayato looked at each other. The voice was beautiful, high-pitched, and extremely familiar. It obviously wasn't Kusakabe-san. It wasn't the voice of a guy. Takeshi's younger sister was in the same room as Hibari, and she was casually conversing with him, too! Weren't they fighting earlier this morning? Wasn't she a yankii leader and him a prefect leader? So aren't they enemies? Tsuna was confused and by the look on Hayato's face, so was he. Tsuna felt the need to get out of there, but he listened still.

"Hmph." No reply. Apparently, Hibari wasn't giving much of a conversation back. Tsuna peeked through the tiny crack of the door to get a better idea of what was going on. Hibari was doing papers, and Kaoru was lounging on the couch playing with Hibird.

"Oh, don't give me that. I need words. An answer!" Kaoru sat up straight and Hibird mimicked her, "Answer, answer!"

Hibari, who by the way was very pissed, sighed hard and glared up at Kaoru. Setting his pen down, he folded his hands on his desk, and he didn't bother to be nice about anything. But when was he nice about anything? "Go, don't go? Who cares?"

Kaoru stood up fast, and Hibird was startled. He fluttered over to Hibari's shoulder and started singing the Namimori Anthem. "I care! I obviously can't talk to you about this, so I'll be leaving now." She stood up to leave, grabbing her katana and propping it in her belt as she started towards the door. Tsuna and Gokudera took this time to get as far away from there as possible. They made it down the stairs and out to the front gates, sort of pushing people out of their way in the process. They decided it would be best for them to just start home.

"Jyuudaime, I'm not sure about that Kaoru. She's a little off." Hayato mentioned on their way home. Tsuna didn't react to his statement, but he was listening. He wasn't sure what to think of her. First she was cocky, and then strong, but while she was talking to Hibari she seemed scared or something. Not scared of Hibari, but whatever she was asking him about his thoughts. Hayato wasn't sure if Tsuna heard his first comment, so he started something else. "He mentioned about going and not going somewhere. I wonder what that was supposed to mean."

"Hmm..." Tsuna and Hayato were too deep in thought to talk the rest of the way home. They walked in silence, but it wasn't awkward since neither of them noticed how quiet it was. By the time they got to Tsuna's house, they had given up on thinking about it. Tsuna was definitely going to tell Reborn about it though.

"Oh? Hayato, I made those cookies you like so much. Come in and have one." Bianchi was there to greet them with a tray full of purple-green discs. Supposedly, they were cookies, but Tsuna didn't believe for one second that they were edible. Hayato fell to his knees, clutching his stomach in pain. Being sick of his sister is more literal than most people think.

"Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna started to help him inside, but as he did Bianchi rushed over to help.

"Hayato! Don't worry! I will nurse you back to health." Tsuna laughed nervously. He wasn't sure whether he should let Bianchi carry him to a bed, or if he should do it himself.

Hayato was laying on Tsuna's bed with a cold cloth over his eyes. Every once in a while he'd groan, but he was otherwise okay for the time being. Tsuna took out what homework he had, but he noticed Reborn wasn't there. Usually Reborn was home before Tsuna was. And if he wasn't going to be, he'd mention it at school. Tsuna wasn't really all that concerned about it though. Who knew what sort of things Arcobaleno did in their free time. Maybe he was getting another one of those weird costumes he occasionally wears. Tsuna suddenly heard loud footsteps outside of his door. They sounded like someone was running up the stairs. Hayato sat up when he heard it, in case it might be an enemy. The doorknob twisted and whoever it was slammed open the door. Tsuna sighed. It was only Haru.

"Tsuna-san! Reborn-chan!" Haru still had her bag in her hand, so she must have just gotten out from school. A prestigious all-girl school like hers must keep them longer. Haru looked around a bit puzzled. "Hahi, where's Reborn?"

...

The next morning, Tsuna expected to wake and find his tutor sleeping away. However, the young mafioso was surprised to see that Reborn had not returned the night before. Tsuna sighed heavily, not really sure why he was gone, but if none of his friends had seen him, then he would start to look for him. He wasn't too concerned since he knew Reborn could take care of himself. Perhaps he was finally called back to Italy. They had won the ring battle, and he was the official successor now, so Reborn didn't have to stay, did he?

The brunette sleepily forced himself to get out of bed and dress. It was Sunday, and he wasn't up to remedial lessons, so he didn't even bother to touch his uniform. He slipped on jeans, a t-shirt, and a navy hoodie before trudging downstairs for breakfast. I-pin and Lambo were obviously wide awake considering they were chasing each other around the house, as usual. Tsuna watched Lambo, a bit relieved he was okay. Everyone was so worried when he was hurt in the ring battle. But, of course, he bounced back like a kid on drugs. Maybe he is taking something? He _is_ part of a mafia family. Nah, that can't be right. If any baby was on drugs, it was Reborn.

"Tsuna-nii, good morning!" Fuuta was sitting at the table, like a normal kid would, smiling as if there were no tomorrow. Tsuna sat down next to him smiling, and he returned the greeting. Even though Fuuta seemed normal, he knew that the little boy was far from ordinary. It scared him to think that such an innocent child could be involved with the mafia. Just as Nana, Tsuna's mother, placed his food in front of him, the doorbell rang. Tsuna sighed and got up. If they had to ring the doorbell, then it wasn't someone he wanted to talk to at that very moment.

He dragged his feet while walking towards the door. He still was only half awake. He looked through the peeking hole on the door and his eyes widened with both disbelief and fear. He quickly opened the door to make sure he was seeing correctly, and he was. Yamamoto Kaoru was there in almost-normal clothes. Her long, choppy hair was pulled back into a ponytail so that it looked semi-even, and she had clothes that covered her body. Thought they were totally inappropriate for the weather. It was a bit chilly and leaves were starting to fall. Despite that, she wore short shorts, a light camisole, and sandals. And even though she had on a shirt that covered her bandaged chest, you could still see white bandages where the shirt came down in a V. Her nose and cheeks were bright pink from the cold, but she didn't seemed chilled by the autumn air. Her eyes were red and puffy though. Perhaps the cold air made her eyes water.

"You're a friend of Takeshi's, right?" she asked. Tsuna was surprised by her coming there, that he forgot he was staring. He nodded his head in response to her question, so she continued. "Well, um... Can you tell him that I'm leaving?"

"Leaving?" Tsuna asked. It must be about what she was talking to Hibari about. "Where are you going? And shouldn't you tell him yourself? He might be worried." Kaoru laughed. Her laugh was arrogant, but her expression was sad. She answered all of Tsuna's questions in order.

"I'm leaving for Tokyo with my gang. More opportunities, y'know? And he's really mad at me, so I won't get a chance to talk to him." She paused for a little bit, sighing. "And he won't be worried. Not at all," she whispered. Tsuna could feel her words were full of sadness. He was a bit reluctant to agree, but he did.

Kaoru thanked him before walking away slowly. And as she closed the gate behind her, just barely, Tsuna could make out sparkles trailing down her cheeks.

* * *

Still not long enough for my liking, but I'm so excited to be writing this that I can't wait to post it up and share it!!

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Anyway, next chapter will begin in the future arc. I'll explain more in the beginning of the next chapter. But anyway, I hope people continue to read this!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Melancholic Song**

Sorry that I haven't updated this for such a long time. My computer had broken down, but it's all good now.

I said that this chapter would start in the future arc... but that was a lie. We will definitely do some time travel in this chapter, though. And as I read over the last two chapters, I realized how badly written it was. Anyways, I'm just going to timeskip past the time travel and such. Just because it's all basically going to stay the same. You'll know when the timeskip happened.

Tsuna was shocked at the events that had played out that morning. A girl whom he had just met had run away from home. He was sure she was the delinquent type, but she seemed so good natured. Then again, so was Gokudera. Kaoru was the younger sister of Tsuna's best friend and apparently acquainted with Hibari, and she was leaving with her gang to Tokyo. He shuddered thinking about what sort of oppurtunities she was speaking of. The whole ordeal bothered him.

He quickly brushed his teeth, attempted to tame his hair, and started out the door. The kids were going shopping with his mom, so at least they wouldn't be bothering him. The moment he stepped outside the gate, he spotted Gokudera rounding the corner. It was to be expected, of course. He stopped by Tsuna's house, even if they weren't going anywhere that day. Tsuna was starting to think his life was starting to fall back into normalcy.

"Good morning, Jyuudaime!" Gokudera said with unnecessary enthusiasm. Tsuna smiled sheepishly. Instantly losing his warm expression, Gokudera furrowed his eyebrows in a sort of disgust and turned to look behind him. "I just saw the Kaoru girl. Was she bothering you, Jyuudaime!"

"No. Actually, she didn't bother me at all." Tsuna seemed sort of out of it. He thought Kaoru was cute, but not in the same manner that Kyoko was. It was sort of the same kind of cute Haru was. Haru was a strange sort of cute; Kaoru was a scary sort of cute. Tsuna shook his head as if to shake away his crazy thoughts. "Oh!" He just remembered.

"What's wrong? Is it that Kaoru girl?" Gokudera seemed intent on fighting Kaoru. Perhaps it was because she was related to Yamamoto.

Tsuna scrambled to calm Gokuderan down. "No, no! I was just wondering if you'd seen Reborn around. He didn't come home last night, and he wasn't there this morning." Tsuna was actually starting to worry. Usually, Reborn would show up and explain his absence. But he hadn't this time.

"Well, we did win the Ring Battle. Perhaps he's returned to Italy now that we're the only canidates left to succeed the Vongola." Gokudera had the same thoughts as Tsuna. Now that he was the only one left to succeed the Ninth, did Reborn just leave and return to Italy? Tsuna felt relieved he didn't have to go through his back-breaking excersizes or study techniques, but his heart also felt heavy.

He missed Reborn.

Large arms had snuck up behind the two, and they gripped Tsuna and Gokudera in a large bear hug. They knew it was Yamamoto, but turned around to confirm the assumption.

"Oi! Don't go getting close like that to the Tenth, you baseball freak!" Gokudera shouted. Yamamoto just laughed, like he normally did. He seemed to have gotten over whatever seemed to be troubling him yesterday. Tsuna let out a sigh of relief. However, he knew he would have to tell Yamamoto that his sister had left, but he didn't wawnt to spoil the happy atmophere.

"Yamamoto," Damn. He had called out to him unconciously. After all, he had promised Kaoru so the thought was lurking in the back of his mind, and he just blurted out Yamamoto's name. Yamamoto and Gokudera stopped bickering with each other and faced Tsuna, who was now regretting calling out his friend's name.

"Uhm, this morning," he began, trying to avoid Yamamoto's eyes. "Kaoru-san, she says she-"

"She's going to Tokyo," Yamamoto cut him off. Shock spread over Tsuna's face. How had he known? "I heard from my dad. She left with her gang. I know." His voice seemed disappointed. Tsuna decided not to pursue the topic any further, and his two companions agreed with an awkward silence.

The trio arrived at the school, and since they all were in the same class, they couldn't part ways to break the heavy atmosphere. Kyoko watched as the three usually cheerful boys trudge in. She wasn't sure if it was exhaustion or a fight, but she wanted to cheer them up. Or that's what Tsuna interpretted, anyway. Her feelings were written all over her face. He smiled at how adorable she was sometimes. It made him forget about the mafia, Reborn, Kaoru, and anything else that had been troubling him recently.

- - - - - - - - - X - - - - - - - - -

Tsuna and everyone was just returning from the Melone Base. After discovering the truth about Irie Shoichi, they allowed for him and Spanner to join the famiily. Everything was so hectic. People were still injured, they had to train for the fight with Byakuran, and Tsuna was having an uneasy feeling. He wasn't sure why he was feeling so uneasy. He had wondered at one point if Spanner or Irie Shoichi planned to betray the Vongola, but he was certain when they returned that the two were purely on the side of the Vongola. The strange sensation crept over him for the entire day.

It wasn't until the next day that it suddenly subsided. Tsuna sighed in relief, and noticing this, Reborn questioned him.

"What are you so relieved about? You need to train so you can defeat Byakuran," What he said was obvious, but Tsuna ignored the Byakuran part for the moment.

"I've been feeling this strange feeling ever since yesterday. It's like someone we know is hurting, and we aren't doing anything about it," Reborn considered it for a moment, knowing Tsuna's hyper intuition was obviously catching on to something. However after some thought, he dismissed it.

"It's just your imagination. Bianchi and Fuuta checked everyone. Kusakabe and Dino even checked Hibari, too," Reborn stated simply. Tsuna wanted to dismiss it too, but the feeling he had bothered him. And why did it suddenly disappear? For the moment, Tsuna would focus on training.

After a brief training session, everyone was called to the usual meeting room to watch a video message from the Varia. Even Dino had brought Hibari. It wasn't until it was over that Tsuna's horrible sensation took over him again. It was as if they were walking by someone who needed medical attention. Kusakabe, who stood against the wall near the doorway, came to Tsuna's attention.

"What are you hiding, Kusakabe-san?" Tsuna asked nervously. Kusakabe was slightly confused, and he wasn't sure he was actually hiding anything. There was a sudden popping noise. It came from the inside pocket of his jacket, and as fast as he could manage, Kusakabe threw a small glass bottle full of ash into the air, away from everyone. It exploded in a familiar purple smoke. Kusakabe was stunned, and at the same time, frightened. But even in the confusion, most everyone recognized the purple smoke. It was from the ten-year-bazooka. Someone came from the past. But from a bottle?

"U-Ugh," Soft moaning put everyone on edge, since they didn't know who it was. That is, everyone from the past didn't know who it was. Those from the future knew very well who came from ten years ago. It was someone who wasn't seen often in the Vongola Headquarters but caused so much grief and pain. It was someone who suffered a lot more than anyone else. They had to let the smoke clear. It took only a few moments, but once it was gone, everyone gasped. An almost lifeless body lied on the floor, blood running down from large gashes, and large purple bruises covering nearly half of her body. It was Yamamoto, Kaoru. No one even asked a question why this had happened, and they immediately gathered her up and took her to the hospital room. It seemed she was unconcious, and her injuries seemed like the work of more than a single person. There was no way one person could beat her this badly.

It was noon two days later when she woke up. Her head was bandaged, there was an IV stuck into her arm, and almost her entire body was either bandaged or getting bandages changed. The day before she had a horrible fever from her body trying to heal her injuries by itself, and although she still had it, the fever was almost gone. Her eyes fluttered open, and the first people she saw were Bianchi and Fuuta. Bianchi was changing her bandages, and Fuuta was just leaving so she could bandage in places he'd rather not see. But before he could leave, Bianchi told him to tell the others she was awake. At first she was in a daze. But after a moment of recollecting her thoughts, she panicked. Kaoru had something important she was doing before she was attacked. Without any knowledge to how critical her injuries were, she sat up quickly. However, her body quickly rejected the sudden movement and sent racks of pain to every inch of Kaoru's body. She clenched at her stomach and Bianchi tried to lay her back down.

"Are you crazy?" Bianchi shouted, struggling to lay Kaoru down. But, Kaoru kept herself upright, desperate to finish whatever she had started. She reached out her arms as if trying to grab something important. She pulled her legs over the side of the bed, and although Bianchi was holding her back, she was slowly inching off.

"I have to find them," she breathed. Bianchi, still trying to pull Kaoru back into bed without reopening her wounds, could feel Kaoru's body shake with every second. At last one foot touched gently on the cold linoleum floor, but as the rest of Kaoru's body followed, her legs couldn't support her weight yet. She collasped on the floor, her stomach and her face meeting the hard tiles. Shakingly, she picked her head out and again reached out her arm.

"Kyoya... Nii-chan..." the words almost barely escaped her lips before the automatic door slid open and everyone once again saw Kaoru's body on the ground. By this time, she was too weak to even hold her head up. Gokudera, Fuuta, and Bianchi picked her up, gently as to not reopen her wounds, and lied her back on the bed. She was breathing hard, her chest rising up and down rapidly. Her fever was quickly rising from her sudden movement, and everyone who had came in later was shocked. Kusakabe rushed in and stood by her side.

"Kaoru-san," he said softly. His expression was pained, but it was familiar, as if he'd already seen her like this. And since they were ten years into the future, he probably had. Hibari stood in the door way, watching Kaoru's nearly lifeless form tremble in pain. He didn't show any signs of concern, but he hadn't left either. Yamamoto, on the other hand, seemed sick with worry. Despite hating the person his younger sister became, she was still his sister, and he had every right to be worried. He was immediately by her side, but he didn't touch her or come any closer than that.

"Ka-chan," he whispered. He used her nickname from when they were young, but she couldn't hear him. "What in the world?" Tsuna watched the scene with eyes full of pity. Reborn would have done the same, except he was curious as to how her injuries came about. In fact, he had many questions to ask her, and Kusakabe.

- - - - - - - - - X - - - - - - - - -

"Explain," Reborn ordered. Kusakabe was silent. They were in the meeting room now, with everyone waiting to hear Kusakabe's explanations. Earlier in the hospital room, Reborn had asked, "Why was Kaoru's future-self a bottle of ash? And why do you have it?" Kusakabe sat with his elbows nestled on his knees, and his hands facial expression was pained, but he sighed and finally sat up straight. It was as if everything were a secret.

"I'll tell you, but, do not tell Kaoru-san," he warned. Everyone listened intently, but no one expected that very person, Yamamoto Kaoru, to be eavesdropping from a wheelchair outside the door. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, but really, they just wanted to hear an explanation.

"In the present time, which is ten years into the future for the seven guardians, Kaoru's full name is Hibari Kaoru. We'll start from there,"

Dun, Dun, Dunnnn! :) Commercial time!

Okay, so it's very dramatic. But it was the only way for me to actually get this moving in the right direction in one sitting. And big cliff-hanger at the end! I hate those, but their interesting as well, in my opinion.

Anyway, I hope you all don't hate me for making my character match with an original character, but I had to do it. The idea was calling my name. The next chapter will be all Kusabe speaking. So giant flashback, if you will. See you next time!


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